Now that's a score. The good side of a country where skating is just getting recognized but yet to get popular is that we see minimal inflation.
Amazing to see a skater so quickly improvise and replace difficult jumps that didn't go as planned. Yuna's done that at her 2011 Worlds too.

Only Mao and Akiko got a lot of heat from posters for scoring in 60s for what they did in SP at their nationals, including sarcastic posts from one of the mods, didn't they?

Anyway, I agree with EyesOfLove, I think Yuna performed this program a lot better than at NRW and I actually start to like it. It has potential to turn into something interesting and unique with this dark but beautiful music and I hope she performs it flawlessly at Worlds. Too bad about the stupid fall, she obviously did not have enough time to recover before going into the Lutz, but it was very enjoyable nevertheless.

I agree, she attacked it more performance-wise, despite the freak fall. Her spins and steps were improved, and she skater even faster.

As for the heat from anti-fans, just wait. It's Saturday and it's a nationals with no serious contender besides Yuna, so maybe not many are aware of it yet? Let's wait for the free skate by tomorrow morning.

I'm glad she's getting her competitive nerves under her before Worlds. NRW and Nats are good practices, but perhaps she needs one more like 4CC before Worlds.

As for Yuna's score, they're immaterial here, since no one's going to beat her. However, I do think it was NOT out of line of her usual scores, since her PCS were almost identical to NRW and her score was about the same as her Worlds 2011 SP where she likewise missed her opening combo. I think her skating skills, transitions, performance and interpretation were actually BETTER than NRW.

Wow. That took some gut to throw a 3F-3T after such disastrous start. (Having said that, I'm a bit dubious about the rotation of 3T- looks tad bit UR to my eyes) I thought she looked much more into the music and alert to the choreography, which actually showed even when she tried to hold the ending pose longer.

I agree, she attacked it more performance-wise, despite the freak fall. Her spins and steps were improved, and she skater even faster.

As for the heat from anti-fans, just wait. It's Saturday and it's a nationals with no serious contender besides Yuna, so maybe not many are aware of it yet? Let's wait for the free skate by tomorrow morning.

I'm glad she's getting her competitive nerves under her before Worlds. NRW and Nats are good practices, but perhaps she needs one more like 4CC before Worlds.

As for Yuna's score, they're immaterial here, since no one's going to beat her. However, I do think it was NOT out of line of her usual scores, since her PCS were almost identical to NRW and her score was about the same as her Worlds 2011 SP where she likewise missed her opening combo. I think her skating skills, transitions, performance and interpretation were actually BETTER than NRW.

I agree, she attacked it more performance-wise, despite the freak fall. Her spins and steps were improved, and she skater even faster.

As for the heat from anti-fans, just wait. It's Saturday and it's a nationals with no serious contender besides Yuna, so maybe not many are aware of it yet? Let's wait for the free skate by tomorrow morning.

I resent that statement. It basically encompasses the opinion that fans can't be critical of their favorite skaters either. To that, I say: don't tell me what to do!

Anyway, this "Kiss of the Vampire" program definitely hasn't grown on me at all. I've tried, like really tried to like it, but I find myself just feeling "meh" about it. Same goes for her "Les Miserables" program (but we'll see about that tomorrow).

However, she definitely had more attack in that performance than at NRW Trophy. Her lutz's entrance looked like there was less "lean" than in Germany, which signifies that she's steadily improving. It's commendable that she was able to perform relatively well in such cold conditions (-4C or 25F)-- of course, credit must be given to the 17 other competitors for competing and perhaps even training in such cold temperatures, like Yuna once did. It's kind of like how it's so amazing that Chinese pairs like Shen/Zhao and Pang/Tong could rise up to the elite level-- who, in their earliest stages, had trained outdoors(!) in less than ideal temperatures with less than ideal ice conditions.

The fact that she was able to add 3F+3T after her failed attempt at the triple lutz leads me to believe that she'd been training for it just in case something like her 2011 Worlds SP happened again. (And it did.) It's been a while since we've seen the 3F+3T from her and I would say that it's still pretty impressive.

All in all, slippery ice is slippery (rough ice, relatively too much water on the surface of the ice, etc). "Freak accidents" like that happen all the time to top skaters and she dealt with it intelligently.

I resent that statement. It basically encompasses the opinion that fans can't be critical of their favorite skaters either. To that, I say: don't tell me what to do!

Anyway, this "Kiss of the Vampire" program definitely hasn't grown on me at all. I've tried, like really tried to like it, but I find myself just feeling "meh" about it. Same goes for her "Les Miserables" program (but we'll see about that tomorrow).

However, she definitely had more attack in that performance than at NRW Trophy. Her lutz's entrance looked like there was less "lean" than in Germany, which signifies that she's steadily improving. It's commendable that she was able to perform relatively well in such cold conditions (-4C or 25F)-- of course, credit must be given to the 17 other competitors for competing and perhaps even training in such cold temperatures, like Yuna once did. It's kind of like how it's so amazing that Chinese pairs like Shen/Zhao and Pang/Tong could rise up to the elite level-- who, in their earliest stages, had trained outdoors(!) in less than ideal temperatures with less than ideal ice conditions.

The fact that she was able to add 3F+3T after her failed attempt at the triple lutz leads me to believe that she'd been training for it just in case something like her 2011 Worlds SP happened again. (And it did.) It's been a while since we've seen the 3F+3T from her and I would say that it's still pretty impressive.

All in all, slippery ice is slippery (rough ice, relatively too much water on the surface of the ice, etc). "Freak accidents" like that happen all the time to top skaters and she dealt with it intelligently.

I was referring to the potential controversy about her score given her mistakes. Her detractors are always quick and persistent to point out how "over-scored" she is in every competition. (Look at babayaga's original post that I was responding to, which mentioned Mao and Akiko's national SP's.) I'm not sweeping all fans who don't like her SP as anti-fans. Heck, even I am not fully sold on it, I like it OK up to the step sequence, but I think the step sequence needs rework. It needs to be faster and more crisp, and should have fewer illusion spins, I think. And then there's the tough music cut.

I like her LP a lot better, but a big part of it is because I love the musical.

I like her LP a lot better, but a big part of it is because I love the musical.

Really? I like her SP more than I do her LP. I think it's because I've seen both a version of the musical of Les Miserables and the recently-released movie, so I have pretty high expectations of the artistic aspect of the program ... that weren't exactly met.

... Let's just say that the "Les Miserables" isn't David Wilson's best work (or "Kiss of the Vampire" for that matter). Especially with the music cuts.

I was referring to the potential controversy about her score given her mistakes. Her detractors are always quick and persistent to point out how "over-scored" she is in every competition. (Look at babayaga's original post that I was responding to, which mentioned Mao and Akiko's national SP's.) I'm not sweeping all fans who don't like her SP as anti-fans. Heck, even I am not fully sold on it, I like it OK up to the step sequence, but I think the step sequence needs rework. It needs to be faster and more crisp, and should have fewer illusion spins, I think. And then there's the tough music cut.

I like her LP a lot better, but a big part of it is because I love the musical.

Maybe babayaga can come back and complain once Akiko and Mao can just throw down 3F/3T at will during SP b/c they messed up their planned opening combo.

During the warm-up Yuna aborted her first 3Lz+3T because she almost crashed into the board. She barely cleared the boards in the second attempt (successful), and then she crashed into the boards on third 3Lz+3T attempt.

I'm pretty sure this rink is smaller than standard. She skates too fast and too close to the boards (for the rink's size), judging by the video.